Alan McGee On Ride

Ride were exceptional. They were school kids when I first signed them. They were on tour with the Soup Dragons who they blew off every night easily and our relationship began slowly and surely the biggest problem was language - they were very English and I was very Scottish. They loved my record label so in reality I knew from the moment I met them I would get them and after a week, I did. In the early days I think it was a very democratic band but probably Mark was the most confident and other than that Dave, the manager, seemed able to communicate what they wanted to try and achieve the best. I really think they were very underestimated for how good they actually were. For their age they were weirdly exceptional because they made the first album, NOWHERE, when they were just 18 years old. They toured loads and got big overnight and all the perils of rock-n-roll were bestowed on them. At 18, this must have been daunting but they somehow managed to not blow it. The record went gold in the UK and they became cult big everywhere else - bar Japan where they were again huge. I really loved their idea of noise and pop music as it was clever. The twin vocal thing that Mark and Andy did together was strangely beautiful. We all partied our way though the first album and they joined the Creation big boys gang especially Mark who we all loved a lot. Bit by bit we got to know Andy, Loz, and Steve but because they were young I think they found the likes of Primal Scream on drugs frightening...well I did anyway.

By the second album, GOING BLANK AGAIN, there was so much expectation on them it was insane. Everybody wanted a number one album, gold in the first week, a date at Wembley. Really we were all on too many drugs. In reality again it was a brilliant album that did go Top Ten. We sold out two Brixton's and they just got bigger and bigger round the world. Around this time Andy began to emerge out of his shell and we started to get to know him too.

The great thing about Ride is we had two great talents in Andy and Mark and an amazing drummer and bass player in Loz and Steve. ''Leave Them All Behind'' is a classic tune and it may be their most under appreciated song. It has always reminded me of Oasis' "Do You Know What I Mean" - it's conceptually the same song. Noel was a massive Ride fan so this is not the far away from reality even if it was totally not thought through like that. The songs are very similar in the way they are arranged and the sonics are very similar. GOING BLANK AGAIN truly established them as a big international band so all was good in our heads.

The third Ride album, CARNIVAL OF LIGHT, had now started along the lines of Andy's songs and Mark's songs. I love it but it was a departure. On this album they delved into The Byrds, The Beatles and Love. I loved this album. The critics love the album. The fans - not so much.

It's hard to take your audience with you sometimes and in the UK we slipped with this album a bit but outside the UK the band were still massive. Ride had been the first big UK indie band of the nineties so when Brit Pop came around in 1994 it was a cruel twist of fate that they were left outside the gates at the party at the Good Mixer. Even though they were beginning to split in the ranks musically we all got together in January 1995 and tried to make the 4th Ride album TARANTULA which I liked. But the media by this point had moved on to Oasis and Blur who ironically both loved Ride. The sessions were difficult and it was really the death of the band as an idea. Like all things in life, everything has a beginning and an ending and the great thing about Ride was when it was over they left the stage. As people, they were all amazing to work with and as a band, they were one of our best ever signings. I loved them then and love them now. Andy and Mark are both still good friends of mine and I miss Loz and Steve as I haven't seen them for years but I take my hat off to the boys in the band. Ride ruled in the UK from 1990 to mid 1993 and it was deserved. Here's to Mark, Andy, Loz and Steve. They helped make Creation a great label and helped keep us afloat at difficult times in the early 90's.

From rural Wales, your intrepid reporter, Alan McGee, Creation Records 1983-1999